[Peace-discuss] Fwd: AFTER ITS DISASTROUS DEFEAT, WHICH WAY NOW FOR THE LABOR MOVEMENT?

[David Johnson via Peace-discuss]

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*AFTER ITS DISASTROUS DEFEAT ON NOVEMBER 4, WHICH WAY NOW FOR THE LABOR 
MOVEMENT?*

*[Please forward widely.]*

There is no disagreement within the labor movement that we took a very 
big hit in the November 4 elections. Labor's worst enemies among the 
politicians -- Scott Walker inWisconsinand John Kasich inOhio, who led 
the charge against public employees' bargaining rights -- registered 
significant victories. A large number of other Republicans across the 
country share their anti-labor bias.


But what about the Democratic Party, supposedly the party that 
represents the interests of workers? It was repudiated by millions of 
workers who either stayed home on election day or cast their ballots for 
the Republicans.

In 2008, Obama was elected president, and Democrats won control of both 
Houses of Congress. Hope**was in the air. But in short order, the 
Democratic Party betrayed its promises to labor --- without whom the 
Democrats could never have won the election. No legislation guaranteeing 
full employment was enacted. No infrastructure funding was approved. No 
labor law reform was passed. No "card check" ("Employees Free Choice 
Act") saw the light of day. No end to deportations and the breakup of 
families transpired. Instead, a bill on health care authored by the very 
conservative Heritage Foundation was pushed through Congress without 
even a promised public option, making the insurance companies happy but 
leaving vastnumbers with no health care or patently inadequate 
coverage.And anti-worker trade bills were relentlessly pursued, wars and 
occupations in faraway countries were escalated, and more recently 
Democrats joined Republicans in allowing unemployment compensation for 
the long-term unemployed to expire while food stamp funding was cut 
further by $8.6 billion.

In short, the President and Congressional Democrats, with the exception 
of only a small minority, turned on labor and in the process fueled the 
disillusionment that led to Tuesday's vote.*Tens of millions of workers 
have had it with the Democratic Party*. According to the latest Gallup 
Poll, 58% of theU.S.population has concluded that a new party should be 
formed.

A CBS exit poll taken on election day reported that 63% of Americans 
believe that the economic system favors the wealthy. Dissatisfaction 
with the status quo is very widespread and disgust with both major 
parties runs deep. All that is missing is leadership that only the labor 
movement and its community allies can provide to bring a new party into 
existence.

*A Bankrupt Strategy*

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Unfortunately, up to this point, too many labor leaders have doggedly 
stuck with the Democratic Party. But the rank-and-file increasingly 
reject this strategy. So the generals in labor are losing their army as 
the labor movement sinks ever more deeply into crisis.

Today labor is a junior member of the Democratic Party's coalition. But 
it is the big corporations and banks which continue to control that 
party. (Seventy percent of the Democrats' funding comes from the big 
corporations and some millionaires and billionaires.) To be sure, Wall 
Street gave the Democrats more money in the 2008 elections than to the 
Republicans, but this time around they gave more money to the 
Republicans. When the Democrats win, Wall Street wins. When the 
Republicans win, Wall Street wins. But either way, labor loses.

We have to ask: What in the world is labor doing in the same party as 
the corporate elite? Shouldn't we be in the same independent party -- 
*that is, a party without the bosses* -- as the civil rights movement, 
communities of color, the youth, working farmers, immigrants, and 
progressive social movements?

*Where Do We Go From Here?*

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Tough times lie ahead for the labor movement*.***Blaming Obama for all 
that has gone wrong -- of course he bears his share of the 
responsibility -- won't get us out of the mess we are in. What is 
urgently needed is a debate throughout the labor movement regarding what 
we must do in the political and electoral arena from this point on. Let 
advocates of sticking with the Democrats have their say. But let 
advocates of independent labor/community political action have their say 
as well.

There is no time to waste. The labor movement can be revitalized if we 
adopt as our slogan "The Bosses Have Two Parties --We need One of Our 
Own!" and take the concrete organizational steps to bring such a new 
party into existence. The alternative is for labor to continue to suffer 
further horrendous defeats and disappear as a viable social movement. 
The choice is ours to make, and it will determine where we in labor go 
from here.

/Issued by the Labor Fightback Network.//For more information, please 
call 973-944-8975 or email conference at laborfightback.org or write Labor 
Fightback Network, P.O. Box 187, Flanders, NJ07836or visit our website 
at laborfightback.org. Facebook link/: 
https://www.facebook.com/laborfightback//

//

/Donations to help fund the Labor Fightback Network based on its program 
of solidarity and labor-community unity are necessary for our work to 
continue and will be much appreciated. Please make checks payable to 
Labor Fightback Network and mail to the above P.O. Box or you can make a 
contribution online. Thanks!///

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